Chard & shiitake ohitashi
Chard & shiitake ohitashi
This colourful, fresh-tasting side is a great accompaniment to any fried dish. It’s best made the day before so the chard and shiitake have time to absorb the delicious umami flavour of the seasoned dashi. You can also use spinach, watercress or other leafy vegetables and make it with or without shiitake.
You can buy ready made dashi from some supermarkets or instant powdered dashi online but I always make my own. In fact when I start cooking a Japanese meal it is the first thing I do as I will most probably be making miso soup. Any left over dashi will keep in the fridge for 2 or 3 days.
Summer / Autumn | Serves 4
150g chard
8 small shiitake
400ml dashi
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 tablespoons mirin
For the dashi:
1l cold water
20cm length kombu seaweed (about 5g)
A large handful of katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
To make the dashi, add the kombu to the cold water and slowly bring to the boil. Remove the kombu, add the katsuobushi and bring to the boil again. Remove from the heat and strain.
Trim the shiitake and cut into halves or quarters if large.
Combine the dashi, light soy sauce and mirin in a small saucepan. Add the shiitake and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes or until the shiitake are cooked. Then remove from the heat and leave to cool in a bowl.
Meanwhile trim the chard and separate the stems from the leaves. Cut the stems into 3cm lengths and keeping the leaves separate chop them roughly.
Fill a large saucepan with boiling water and add the stems first, cooking for about 1 minute. Add the leaves and cook for a further 1 or 2 minutes. Keep checking to make sure the chard is softened but not overcooked. Then drain and plunge into cold water. Drain again and squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
When the shiitake and seasoning liquid has cooled, add all the chard and leave until the next day.
Serve in small mounds on individual dishes.
